On October 20, 2014, New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art will present the most important exhibition of the essential Cubists -- Georges Braque, Juan Gris, Fernand Léger, and Pablo Picasso -- in over 30 years. “Cubism” will feature iconic works from the Leonard A. Lauder Collection, which is unmatched in its holdings of Cubist art. Lauder, a philanthropist and cosmetics mogul, promised his collection to the Met in April 2013. “Cubism” will mark the first time that the collection will be shown in public.

The exhibition will explore the invention and development of Cubism, a movement that transformed the landscape of modern art. Cubism departed from the traditional interpretations of art, challenged conventional perceptions of space, time, and perspective, and paved the way for abstraction -- a concept that dominated the art world for much of the 20th century.